Here’s what I’ll tell you: I’d much rather watch videos like David Guetta, Ne-Yo and Akon’s bizzaro “Play Hard” than a thousand others that feature girls in bikinis gyrating on a motorcylce and featured artists standing around trying to figure out what to do with their hands.
In this music video, there’s a loose theme of blue-collar living in a primarily Latino population, and then there’s spasms of camera work, dance segments, a rodeo, unibrows, twerking, impossible boots, a beauty pageant and toy cars. I can’t explain much beyond “surreal,” like Quentin Dupieux was given the car keys and told “Drive… there’s a pile of stock characters in the back.” Guetta, Ne-Yo and Akon (hilariously) all show up at different points, with Guetta giddily clapping at the end.
It’s a non-sequitur in the key of “Better Off Alone.” The song underwhelms in all ways possible, yet visually, I’ll be second-taking in my dreams. What the hell.
“Play Hard” is a bonus track on the re-release of Guetta’s “Nothing But the Beat.”